Tam Coc, Ninh Binh • Hands-On Kitchen
Two minutes from the Tam Coc boat pier, your hosts hand you a chopping board and walk you through a full Vietnamese home kitchen — crispy nem, fresh phở rolls, your main dish, and a Hanoi-style coffee you whisk yourself.
From $19 500.000₫ • per person
Open all day — you pick the time
Meat or fully vegetarian
Beside the Tam Coc boat pier
How It Unfolds
No lecture, no demonstration you watch from a stool. You get the board, the knife and the pan — your hosts stand beside you and talk you through every dish.
1
Step One
No market trip and nothing to shop for — everything is bought and prepped before you arrive. A warm welcome, then the herbs, spices and greens for your menu are laid out on the table: what they are, what they do, and how a Vietnamese kitchen actually uses them.
2
Step Two
The fiddly bit everyone remembers. Crispy fried spring rolls first, then fresh phở rolls wrapped in soft sheets — yours will look better than you expect.
3
Step Three
Black pepper beef in a hot wok, or tofu braised slowly with mushrooms and carrot. Same technique, same seasoning logic — one just happens to be plant-based.
4
Step Four
Beat the egg yolk and condensed milk into a thick golden cream — or fold in coconut, salt or matcha — then sit down and eat everything you made.
The Experience
This is an everyday Vietnamese kitchen with everyday Vietnamese ingredients, and for a few hours it is yours. Beginners are the norm here — most guests have never wrapped a roll before, and every one of them leaves with a plate they made themselves.
Every guest gets their own board and their own station. You chop, you roll, you fry, you plate — nobody cooks it for you.
We are open all day, so you fit the class around your boat trip or your bike ride rather than the other way round.
The plant-based menu is not a stripped-down version — it is five dishes of its own, and mixed groups cook side by side at the same table.
Choose Your Set Menu
One price, one full set menu, four or five dishes plus your coffee. Pick meat or vegetarian when you book — and tell us about allergies, the kitchen adapts.
The Last Dish Is a Drink
Hanoi egg coffee is the classic, but the bar does not stop there. Everyone in your party picks their own when you book — four guests, four different drinks if you like — and if you come for dinner you can still swap from the full menu on the day.
Egg Coffee
Egg yolk whisked with condensed milk into a warm golden custard, spooned over strong black coffee. The Hanoi original.
The signatureCoconut Coffee
Blended coconut cream over iced coffee — cold, sweet and the easiest one to love on a hot Ninh Binh afternoon.
Dairy-freeSalt Coffee
A lightly salted cream that cuts the bitterness instead of burying it. Huế’s idea, now on every street in Vietnam.
Less sweetMatcha Latte
No coffee at all — whisked green tea with milk. The one to pick if you are cooking late and would rather sleep afterwards.
Caffeine-light
Coming for dinner? Have a look at our full drinks menu when you arrive — if something else catches your eye, swap your class coffee for it on the spot. No extra charge, no need to tell us in advance.
How the Time Runs
START
Meet your hosts, wash up and put an apron on. They lay out the herbs, spices and greens for your menu and explain what each one is doing before anything hits a pan.
+ 20 MINUTES
Mix the filling, learn the fold, and get your rolls into the oil. Everyone’s first one is a bit loose; by the fourth it looks like the picture.
+ 50 MINUTES
Soft phở sheets, herbs, and a filling that stays cool and light. This is the one guests go home and make again.
+ 1 HOUR 15
Black pepper beef seared hot and fast, or tofu braised with mushrooms and carrot until it takes on the sauce. Vegetarians also make the fresh salad here.
+ 1 HOUR 50
The part everyone films. Beat the yolk and condensed milk until it thickens and turns pale gold, then float it on the coffee — or make the coconut, salt or matcha version instead.
+ 2 HOURS
Everything comes to the table at once, family style, with rice and herbs. Take your time — this is the point of the whole afternoon.
Nothing here is on a stopwatch. If your rolls are going well we stay on them longer; if you want to linger over the meal, linger.
Vegetarians and meat eaters together. Both menus are cooked at the same table, so nobody has to book separately.
Very close to the main Tam Coc boat pier. Easy to reach on foot from almost any Tam Coc hotel — open the map. Exact address sent after booking.
Dinner guests can change their drink. Check the menu on-site when you arrive and swap for anything you fancy.
Reserve Your Table
One price, everything in
$19 500.000₫
per person, two guests or more — meat or vegetarian, the same price
Cooking on your own? $24 650.000₫ for a solo class — a kitchen for one costs us the same to run as a kitchen for two.
Message us on WhatsApp +84 336 515 830 or +84 84 635 9779 — we reply fast.
Thank you — we’ve got your cooking class request and we will confirm your time and the final price shortly.
Message us on WhatsAppGood to Know
Whenever suits you. We are open all day, so guests join flexibly at different times — a late-morning class that finishes as lunch, an afternoon session, or an evening class that becomes dinner. Choose a start time in the booking form and we will confirm it, or ask for something outside the listed hours in the notes and we will usually manage it.
Yes — the class is suitable for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The vegetarian menu is a full five-dish set of its own: vegetarian spring rolls, vegetarian phở rolls, tofu braised with mushrooms and carrot, a fresh Vietnamese salad and your coffee. Mixed groups cook at the same table, so there is no need to book separately. If you are vegan, ask for the coconut coffee instead of the egg one.
Egg coffee is the Hanoi classic and the one most guests come for. Coconut is cold and sweet, salt coffee is less sweet and more balanced, and matcha has almost no caffeine. Each guest picks their own in the booking form, so a party of four can have four different drinks. If you are coming for dinner, have a look at our full menu on-site and swap for anything else you would rather have.
The kitchen is very close to the main Tam Coc boat pier in Ninh Binh — a couple of minutes on foot. You can see the area on Google Maps here, and we send the exact address and a map pin as soon as your booking is confirmed. Hotel pickup is not included, but almost every Tam Coc hotel is within easy walking or cycling distance.
None at all. Most guests have never wrapped a spring roll before. Your hosts guide you through every dish step by step and the class is built to be fun and hands-on for all skill levels — including children cooking alongside a parent.
Roughly 2.5 to 3 hours, and that includes sitting down to eat everything you cooked at the end. Nothing is on a stopwatch — if you want to linger over the meal, linger.
$19 (500.000₫) per person covers all the fresh ingredients for your chosen menu, hands-on guidance throughout, every piece of equipment and every utensil, your Vietnamese coffee, and the full meal of everything you cook. If you are booking for one, the rate is $24 (650.000₫) — running the kitchen for a single guest costs us the same as running it for two. Hotel transfers, extra beverages, personal expenses and tips are not included.
Yes — families, friends and small tour groups are all welcome, and the price stays the same per person. For groups of eight or more please message us on WhatsApp first so we can set up enough stations and shop for the right quantities.
Your Table Is Waiting
Two minutes from the Tam Coc pier, open all day, $19 (500.000₫) a person — and you leave having cooked a full Vietnamese meal with your own hands.